Inside Out Project

Inside Out is a global participatory art project, initiated by the French photographer JR.

After winning the TED prize in 2011, JR expressed his wish to “change the world” by turning it 'inside out'. The project, inspired by JR's large format street pastings, is open for anyone to participate, anywhere in the world. The idea behind it is to place emphasis on the people and their stories behind each action, or cause. Besides the printing of portraits, participants have full control of both the creative process (taking their pictures) to the pasting process (the installation of the posters). By using strictly black-and-white portraits, which are printed and then pasted in an exterior space, each group action can make a statement in the form of a public artwork and share their message with the rest of the world.

Every Inside Out group action is documented, archived and exhibited on the project's website online. As of June 2015, over 1,200 group actions have taken place, and nearly 250,000 posters have been printed and shipped to more than 127 countries. The Inside Out Project has traveled from Ecuador to Nepal, from Mexico to Palestine, inspiring group actions on varied themes such as hope, diversity, violence awareness and climate change.

Many individuals have become ardently involved in the Inside Out Project. According to Raffi Khatchadourian of the New Yorker, “A participant in Iran, at grave personal risk, had posted an image of a defiant-looking woman beneath a state sponsored billboard” and “Russian gay rights activists protested with the images and were briefly imprisoned in Moscow.”

Inside Out led to heated results in Tunisia, where installations began just as dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali stepped down. Participants pasted photos over posters of Ben Ali on an old fort.

After the Inside Out Action in Tunisia, the project became even more global. Since March 2011, many notable actions have taken place:

Starting in 2011, JR set up large photo booths in different locations — two in Paris, France, one in Arles, France and one in Abu Dhabi in order to get more people involved in the project. They allow participants in Inside Out to immediately receive their portraits after having their picture taken, becoming active models in the project. Without having to submit a Group Action on the website, participants are invited to paste their picture wherever it makes sense for them.

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Wikipedia